July 4, 2009 by prabukarthik.

Is mindless browsing any good? I was talking to my friend about this yesterday and wanted to post it as well.

My take is that it’s about as healthy as any mindless activity could possibly be. To be fair, I have done my share of vetti browsing. So much so I have some scars around my eyes in the form of dark circles. I am a recent convert to the opposite camp. And like all new converts, I am only too happy to proselytize.

My current method works like this.

- when at home, keep the laptop closed.
- when I get the itch to open it, think about reasons for browsing

If I am not able to come up with five good reasons, my laptop stays shut. I wait till I reach five. At any given 24 hours, I allow myself a maximum of 10 good reasons. Checking mails is not a sufficient enough reason.

- close the laptop again once all the reasons are exhausted.

Like all good rationing, this method results in moderation in consumption. I have time to do some activities which folks elder to me had time for in abundance - walks, shopping, socializing, reading etc.

Net as an infrastructure takes access to information to frightening heights. But some processing has to happen in our heads for the information to be of any use. I think accessing information should be a much more selective and conscious exercise than what it is currently with me and most of the folks I know. We are over-emphasizing information and under-weight on processing that information. Unlimited access to information is no substitute for wisdom. And browsing is no substitute for thinking.

As for the effectiveness of my strategy, habits die hard and I am fighting myself here. But at least I am fighting. This post is an attempt to pump-in these ideas to my head first. How about you?

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July 3, 2009 by prabukarthik.

http://www.gladwell.com/1998/1998_08_17_a_harris.htm

If you are a parent, you might want to read this.

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June 27, 2009 by prabukarthik.

http://jeyamohan.in/?p=3120

Makes sense. Corraborates well with what I’ve heard about this from other friends.

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June 26, 2009 by prabukarthik.

The only thing i knew about ‘Pop’ was Popcorn, until i listened to your ‘Dangerous’.

No other icon had the masses in his control from Los Angles to Hudco Colony in CBE the way you did.

I am sure cardiac arrest will get more popular now, and will get the kind of attention it deserves, thanks to your death.

Saying ‘Bye’ is not appropriate. So I shall stand and think about you and your music for a minute, and move on with my life.

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June 23, 2009 by prabukarthik.

Here’s one story by a famous man. Totally loved it

An oil inspector, moving to his heavenly reward, was met by St. Peter with bad news. “You’re qualified for residence”, said St. Peter, “but as you can see, the compound reserved for oil men is packed. There’s no way to squeeze you in.” After thinking for a moment, the prospector asked if he might say just four words to the present occupants. That seemed harmless to St. Peter, so the inspector cupped his hands and yelled, “Oil discovered in hell.” Immediately the gate to the compound opened and all of the oil men marched out to head for the nether regions. Impressed, St.Peter invited the prospector to move in and make himself comfortable. The prospector paused. “No,” he said, “I think I’ll go along with the rest of the boys. There might be some truth to that rumor after all.”

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June 22, 2009 by prabukarthik.

Myself and my friend visited Suruttupalli (Palli Konda Eeshwarar) and Nagala puram (Vedha Narayana Swamy).

The folks have done such an excellent job in collecting all facts that I thought I am better off linking their posts.

I liked Nagalapuram better for the following reasons:

- It’s maintained better, less crowded.
- The temple has not lost its ancient touch in the name of ‘renovation’ though I did find some rooms cropping up usng the old stone pillars. The phenomenon of ‘Surya Puja’ is amazing, a testimony to the architectural brilliance of our ancestors.

‘Suruttupalli’, for all its uniqueness among the Shiva temples is sadly too ‘modernized’ for my liking. It kinda sucks when old temples are filled with granite, painted with all sorts of Ramarajan colors, and made a marketplace by purohits.

Both temples are very accessible from Chennai and definitely worth a visit.

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June 20, 2009 by prabukarthik.

When Lehman became HDFC

My Mom: ‘Inga paaru.. indha book la IT company la velai poradhu pathi nalla potrukaan’ my mom gave me one old issue of ‘Kumudham Snehidhi’.

I started reading reluctantly - too depressing a topic nowadays. The article starts like this ‘Veetu vasadhi kadan kudukkum niruvanam Lehman Brothers…Surukkuma solvadhendral(the writer starts elaborating after this)’.

The writer had added one table spoon of ’some housing matter in US’, 2 table spoons of Lehman’s demise, 2 green chillies, some salt and water and whirred the combination in her Philips blender and lo, here’s one article about the financial crises and the consequent slowdown in Indian IT vendors, in a form very palatable to ‘Kumudham Snehidhi’ readers.

She had even consulted some big ‘kanippori engineers’ working in TCS about what they think and they had given their gyaans like ‘Bigger IT companies will be hit, but smaller companies will thrive….BPO will suffer but KPOs will have future… etc’

I coughed a few times, drank a glass of water after consuming this. Mudila….Epdi ivangalukku mattum mudiyudhu?

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June 17, 2009 by prabukarthik.

No, not the one who acted in Maine Pyar Kya, and who is usually seen without his shirt.

Check out this Salman Khan’s site - Khan Academy. Awesome. I was so seriously impressed that I just clicked on that PayPal ‘donate’ button and made my first online donation ever. This guy deserves a lifetime achievement award just for this site.

If you had never studied in school (like me), then this site cannot be recommended enough.

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June 14, 2009 by prabukarthik.

I had the rare privilege of browsing through ‘Dhina thanthi’ in the neighborhood saloon on Saturday. Needless to say, the paper was full of KKK news. For dummies, KKK stands for Kolai, Kollai, Karpazhippu but may also include fatal road accidents, suicides, etc.

I was promptly reminded of a Gladwell essay about a study on teen suicides which rises to alarming proportions in a small country called Micronesia. The essence of the article was that there was a perceptible increase, a kind of multiplier effect, in suicides (or similar deaths) once news of a prominent teen member in the community committing suicide is known. The article says the effect is not direct but this works on a subtler level.

Now that we might have PhDs in topics as useful as ‘Kalaignarin podhu vazhkai’, ‘Pa Vijay in thiraipada paadalgal’ etc. I wish someone does a study on the correlation of Dina thanthi readership and the number of suicides, thefts, accidents, crashes, fatalities in their families/known circles compared with normal folks. Personally, it freaks me out to imagine people consuming such ‘heavenly’ news everyday. Is it not a case of Garbage in, garbage out?

If that sounds too ambitious, maybe we can start with the number of deaths (suicides, people recklessly crossing the roads, homicide, dangerous two-wheeler riding) on the next two weeks when Silk Smitha, Simran’s sister, GV, committed suicide with ordinary weeks to see if there was any multiplier effect.

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June 6, 2009 by prabukarthik.

Ennadhu Ramachandra la, Jegadrakshagan college la capitation fee vangarangala?
(OR)
Ennadhu Gandhi sethu poittara?

I find it weird when long established tradition and practices is covered as news. Ennamo!

I think Jegadrakshagan is being targetted by TOI for some reason. All will be fine and good once Jegad starts giving Ads to TOI. All is well that ends well in politics.

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